INTERVIEW #149 SOPHIE BENSON
Name: Sophie Benson
Based in: Manchester, UK
Occupation: Freelancing journalist
Gets inspired by: Slow craft, slow fashion
Instagram: @sophiebenson
Sophie! Welcome to A Sustainable Closet! We are so happy to have you here. Tell us about yourself?
I'm a freelance journalist and write about fashion's social and environmental impacts. I'm the sustainability columnist for Dazed and write for publications including Vogue, The Guardian, The Independent, AnOther, and Refinery29.
We are so curious about your career and how you reached the point where you are today?
I started my career as a stylist and ended up working in e-commerce studios for fast fashion brands to make ends meet. I saw how terrible the quality of the clothes was in the studio but how perfect they looked online, and felt like I was part of selling a lie. At the same time, I was expanding my knowledge of the fashion industry and its impact on the planet and people. I felt I could no longer be part of that damaging system, so I moved from styling to writing about the issues I cared about. I had no formal experience and no connections so I spent years cold pitching and trying to build my portfolio and get editors to give me a chance.
What could a workday as a freelance fashion journalist look like?
My days really depend on what I'm working on at the time. Some are purely research-based, some are spent interviewing and transcribing, and others are spent writing articles or reports back to back.
Where do you find your daily outfit inspiration?
I look at a mixture of street style, runway, and vintage, mainly on Pinterest and Instagram.
What is your relationship with clothes, how do you consume your clothes?
I really treasure and take responsibility for my clothes, repairing and upcycling pieces to make them last as long as possible. 99% of what I buy is secondhand, and the rest is pieces I save for from brands that align with my values. Last year I decided not to buy clothes and made anything I wanted using secondhand fabrics. I learned so much about creativity, construction, my own style, and what I want to wear now and in the future.
What favourite stores and brands to shop from?
My ultimate shopping destination will always be charity shops! It's frustrating that they're filling up with fast fashion but you can still find incredible vintage for such low prices. Recently, I found a silk suit for £6.99 in a charity shop on my local high street.
Favourite material to wear?
Currently, I love anything and everything quilted. I have a quilted coat which is one of my most worn (and complimented!) pieces, and I recently bought a beautiful, floral quilted skirt which I've already worn to death.
What do you think about the fashion industry in general?
On a wider scale, it's broken. The overproduction and overconsumption is out of control and it's having a devastating impact on humanity and our climate. However, there's a whole undercurrent of independent designers, labels, and services doing incredible things, using what already exists, making pieces to last, and creating circular systems. That's the side of the industry I'm cheering on.
Describe what fashion is for you, in three words:
Colour, creativity and care.